Last week, my nephew and his wife gave birth to a stillborn baby boy. I was at a loss as to what sort of card to make for them. One of my colleagues volunteers in a leadership capacity with our local Pregnancy and Infant Loss support group and I am thankful for the direction that she gave me. I also really wanted to include a teddy bear on the card and was thrilled to find just the right image at SrappyDew.

The "Baby boy born sleeping" is computer generated and I used my Silhouette to design the wording to curve around the moon. I also used print and cut (with the pattern fill from Lettering Delights) for the moon, stars and little cap. Clouds are inked and embossed. The image is popped on the card too.

I used Craftin Desert Divas’Simply Said stamp set for the "With Sympathy" sentiment. I stamped it in blue and then went over the sentiment with my Stardust Gelly Roll pen. I also coloured in the "string" on the blue star.

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After placing my order for the bear/moon image, I received an email from ScrappyDew to offer friends and family a 30% discount for purchases made by April 4. If you're interested in buying from them, click HERE for a discount.

We have 7 new stamp sets that are being released today. All stamps are in the CDD Shop and now available for purchase.Without further ado, here are the March stamps:

Here are the SVG cut files for each stamp:

All stamps have an SVG outline that is free to you. This makes it so easy. You just cut out the image with your machine and then stamp on it. The SVG file will be in the CDD Gallery under the file tab and available for you to download.

I used one of the sweet little turtle images from Totally Turtle and coloured it in. The faces on the turtles are interchangeable. (There are three of them!) I also stamped the hat image a few times to create my banner, and used some baker's twine to string it along the top of my card.

I used a Fiskars punch for the star border and used some of the negative pieces in the stars on my patterned paper (which is actually from a Christmas pack!). The fun sentiment is from the new Totally Turtle set too! I've always been a sucker for plays on words. There is a link to this free SVG pattern somewhere in today's hop lineup.

Thursday, March 19, 2015

Today is Day 4 of the sneak peeks for the March stamp release at Craftin Desert Divas. We have 7 new stamp sets in this release. Craftin Desert Divas stamps now has an exclusive license with Kristi W Designs to add Kristi's super adorable images to Tara's stamps.

These images and sentiments come with an SVG outline that is FREE to you. They are in the CDD Gallery on Facebook under the files tab.

Each day, there will be a new FREE SVG pattern. You can email craftindesertdivas@gmail.com to request it. You must comment and follow each blog in order to get the free file. Join us this Friday & Saturday for our hop and more free files!!

Now for some birthday fun! All week long we are going to host games and have prizes in the CDD Gallery. Be sure to join us. Now put on your party hat on and get ready to celebrate with us!! Join us this Friday & Saturday for our blog hop.

Today we are showcasing the Totally Turtle stamps.

Here's what I've created for you.....

The NEWTotally Turtle stamp set has images and sentiments. I recently jumped on the alcohol marker bandwagon and decided to try one of the sweet turtle images. (This was done with my first two sets of 6 markers. I've since gone out and purchased another 72 markers. Oh dear!!) The little hearts are from the same set too! (I just used Sharpies as I didn't have any red or pink alcohol markers when I was making this card.) Each stamp set comes with a FREE SVG file to easily cut shapes for the images. No more fussy cutting!

Here's a close up of the fun sentiment. I made this card for my husband. We met 26 years ago last weekend! After all these years, I still "turtley" love him.

Be sure to join us tomorrow for Day 1 of our blog hop!

Here's today's free pattern:

Be sure to comment and follow each blog in order to get the freebie pattern.

CDD stamps are...

4x6 stamps

Made in the USA

Stamps will be available to order on Friday.

We hope you will stop by the Craftin Desert Divas Shop and the Craftin Desert Divas Gallery Facebook group. We would love for you to join us and share your creations with us using Craftin Desert Divas' stamps. In this group, we show previews first, have giveaways and much more!

Thank you so much for joining us today. I hope you will visit the CDD blog tomorrow for more sneak peeks.

For my project, I created a small set of Easter cards using part of the lazy bunny file from Little Scraps of Heaven.

The blue background was cut and embossed with a cloud folder and I added some grass made with a Fiskars punch. The fun frame around my bunny was stamped on pink paper using Craftin Desert Divas’Picture That stamp set. I love the fun chevrons on this stamp!!

Thanks so much for visiting me today. Have a fabulous week! (And don't forget that the CDD team will be sharing projects for our next release this week - with a two-day blog hop to finish things off!!)

Sunday, March 15, 2015

Happy Sunday! It's my day to share a project over at Craftin Desert Divasand I'm sharing it here with you as well.

I found this sweet dog box at the Silhouette Store (#60219). It was so quick and easy to put together - and looks so fun! I get occasional comments from the boys when I'm crafting, but they were all (my husband too) quite impressed with this project. I used a couple of fun stamps from the Craftin Desert Divas' Fur-ever Friends set. This set has a number of sweet animal-themed sentiments - plus a few co-ordinating images! I couldn't resist adding the happy bone above the "Bone Appétit" sentiment and coloured it in to match the colour scheme of my box. Yes, you read that correctly. I coloured!! I finally decided to give colouring a go. I've got two sets of six markers and will definitely be getting more. I didn't think I'd like it much, but it's actually quite therapeutic - and I like that! Anyway, I'm sure things will get a bit more challenging than a bone!!

The Fur-ever Friends set comes with a FREE set of co-ordinating SVGs. I welded the SVG for the sentiment and bone and also created an offset shadow.Here's a picture of the Fur-ever Friends sentiments so you can check out all the wonderful stamps that are in the set.

For my project, I created a card using this week’s freebie from Treasure Box Designs. I used the print and cut feature, but cut extra images and then cut out the dress, shoes and hair bows for added dimension. I also embossed the hair bows and dress using my Cuttlebug.

he mat for my card was created using the FREE svg file that is available with Craftin Desert Divas’ Tag It stamp set. I used the internal offset feature of Silhouette software for the inner layer. The “Hugs” sentiment was added using a stamp from the Simply Said stamp set. I finished things off with a few little hearts above the sentiment and some gems on the hair bows.

Don’t forget about the Craftin Desert Divas Animal Theme Week! Be sure to visit the blog and leave a comment each day for your chance to win! Thanks so much for visiting me today. Have a fabulous week!

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

The telephone is a file from Miss Kate Cuttables. In fact, it's one of the first SVG files I ever got but I've only just got around to using it now.

I used a sweet little stamp from the Craftin Desert Divas' Short and Sweet Tags set. This set has such a wonderful variety of sentiments for all sorts of occasions. I LOVE the adorable little "Hi" - just right for sneaking into a small spot!

And look! It wobbles!Thanks so much for visiting today. Have a fabulous day!

All stamps have an SVG outline that is free to you. This makes it so easy. You just cut out the image with your machine and then stamp on it. The SVG file will be in the CDD Gallery under the file tab and available for you to download.

Here are the release specials for you:
1. Use Code: FEB to receive 10% off your entire order. Sale ends 2/22 10pm MST.
2. Use Code: FreeShip to receive free shipping in the US with a $30 minimum purchase (before tax & shipping) in the CDD Shop.
Offer ends Feb.22

There is a link to this free SVG pattern somewhere in today's hop lineup.

After cutting and assembling my box, I used the NEWFur-ever Friends stamp set to add the fun sentiment. The sweet little smiling heart is a stamp on the same set!! Each CDD stamp set comes with FREE co-ordinating SVGs so I welded the "I ruff you" and "heart" svg images to make my sentiment shape. I also created a shadow using the offset feature.

I made some paper wraps for the little chocolates and stamped them with the happy hearts too.

About Me

I am happily married to my "Dream Come True" and we have been married for 22 years. (Woohoo!) We have been blessed with three wonderful children. Our daughter is studying midwifery at university and we have two boys still at home. I am employed as an integration facilitator at a local college, supporting students with mild intellectual disabilities as they fulfill their dreams of obtaining post-secondary education. I also teach part-time in the Children's Mental Health certificate program through OntarioLearn and am an active volunteer and council member with our local chapter of Autism Ontario. When I do find free time, I love to use small bits of paper to create cards of all sorts.